Wiktionary

Nacht

See also: nacht

German

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Etymology

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From Middle High German naht, from Old High German naht, from Proto-West Germanic *naht, from Proto-Germanic *nahts, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts. Akin to Dutch nacht, English night, Danish nat, Gothic 𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 (nahts).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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Nacht f (genitive Nacht, plural Nächte, diminutive Nächtchen n)

  1. night
    Die Nacht war lang und frostig.
    The night was long and chilly.
  2. darkness
    Sie wurden von der Nacht verschlungen.
    They were engulfed by the darkness (of the night).

Usage notes

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  • In contemporary German, Nacht is used somewhat differently than English night. Although Nacht can be a general term for the dark hours of the day, when used as a time measurement it refers only to those hours when most ordinary people are in bed (roughly 11 p.m. till 6 a.m.). So while one says in English: “Let's have a beer tonight!”, in German one needs to say: Lass uns heute Abend ein Bier trinken! (“Let's have a beer this evening!”)
  • In English, one says in the night or in the day referring to a time of day, but on that night or on that day referring to a date. German, instead, always uses in with Nacht and always uses an with Tag (except when the latter simply means “time, era”, e.g. in jenen Tagen (“in those days”)).
  • A (masculine) genitive Nachts occurs only in the phrases des Nachts (“at night”) and eines Nachts (“one night”) and alone as the adverbial genitive Nachts (cp. nachts).

Declension

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Declension of Nacht [feminine]
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative eine die Nacht die Nächte
genitive einer der Nacht der Nächte
dative einer der Nacht den Nächten
accusative eine die Nacht die Nächte

Derived terms

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See also

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(times of day) Tageszeit; Morgendämmerung, Morgen, Vormittag, Mittag, Nachmittag (Frühnachmittag, Spätnachmittag), Abenddämmerung, Abend, Nacht, Mitternacht (Category: de:Times of day)

Further reading

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Hunsrik

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Alternative forms

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  • naacht (Wiesemann spelling system)

Etymology

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From Old High German naht, from Proto-West Germanic *naht, from Proto-Germanic *nahts (“night”), from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts (“night”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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Nacht f (plural Necht)

  1. night
    Die Nacht is kalt.
    The night is cold.

Further reading

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Low German

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Etymology

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From Old Saxon naht, from Proto-West Germanic *naht, from Proto-Germanic *nahts (“night”), from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts (“night”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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Nacht f (plural Nachten)

  1. night

Further reading

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  • Der neue SASS: Plattdeutsches Wörterbuch, Plattdeutsch - Hochdeutsch, Hochdeutsch - Plattdeutsch. Plattdeutsche Rechtschreibung, sixth revised edition (2011, →ISBN, Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster)

North Frisian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Old Frisian nacht, from Proto-Germanic *nahts, from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts.

Noun

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Nacht m or f (plural Nachter)

  1. (Sylt) night

Pennsylvania German

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Etymology

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From Middle High German nacht, from Old High German naht, from Proto-West Germanic *naht, from Proto-Germanic *nahts, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts. Compare German Nacht, Dutch nacht, English night.

Noun

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Nacht f (plural Nachde)

  1. night
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